Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series was the second series to carry the name "Star Trek" and was a continuation of the voyages of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]], previously featured in [[Star Trek: The Original Series|the original Star Trek series]]. *Main Title Theme (composed by Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael) Summary On the television network NBC, 22 episodes of The Animated Series were aired between September 1973 and October 1974. Re-runs continued on NBC through 1975. The series was produced by the experienced animation house Filmation and the episodes were scripted by professional science fiction and Star Trek writers, including Larry Niven, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold and Samuel A. Peeples. Some of the stories were sequels to episodes from the original series, such as "More Tribbles, More Troubles" (the follow-up to "The Trouble with Tribbles"); "Once Upon a Planet" (a sequel to "Shore Leave"); and "Mudd's Passion" (the follow-up to "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd"). With the exception of Ensign Chekov, all of the regular characters from the original series continued to appear, voiced by the original actors from that series. Dr. McCoy is a full commander, and Nurse Chapel is a full lieutenant. New characters, such as Arex and M'Ress, were also featured. The show was the most expensive animated show on the air at the time, primarily because six "name" actors from Star Trek: The Original Series provided the voices for their characters. Nearly all the aliens and guest characters were voiced by James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett, although some actors reprised their roles from the original series. Among the returning guest actors (and characters) were Mark Lenard (as Sarek), Roger C. Carmel (as Harry Mudd), and Stanley Adams (as Cyrano Jones). Although the characters Amanda Grayson, Robert Wesley, Kyle, Kor, Koloth and Korax would return in the animated series, their voices would be provided by the aforementioned voice talents of Majel Barrett, James Doohan, and writer David Gerrold (as Korax). The show featured a handful of new technologies like the recreation room (later the idea was reused in TNG, where it was known as a holodeck) and the aquashuttle. It also features many non-Humanoid alien species (and even some alien officers aboard the Enterprise) who could not have been featured within the original series' budget. Although The Animated Series is not considered part of Star Trek canon by Paramount, references have gradually become more accepted in other Star Trek series, most notably on Deep Space Nine and Enterprise (see the "background" section below for the complete list of references). Gene Roddenberry said that if he had known there would be more live action Star Trek in the future, the animated series would have been far more logical and "canonable," or he might not have produced the animated series at all. In 1974, the series won an Emmy Award for Best Children's Program in the 1973-1974 television season. The series, which lasted two years, could be seen as the completion of the Enterprise's five year mission. Main Cast *William Shatner as James T. Kirk *Leonard Nimoy as Spock *DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy *James Doohan as Montgomery Scott and Arex *George Takei as Hikaru Sulu *Nichelle Nichols as Uhura *Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel and M'Ress Episodes Season 1 (16 episodes) Season 2 (6 episodes) Background Despite the fact that Paramount still considers The Animated Series "non-canon", writers from later Star Trek series have integrated various references from the series into their works. The following references were used in subsequent series: *The episode "Yesteryear" has been considered canon or "semi-canon" by some of the production staff, and as such, information from this episode is more prevalent in later series: ** The city of Shi'Kahr would resurface on an okudagram in TNG: "The Emissary" called the "Shi-Kar Desert Survival, Vulcan", which was also a reference to Spock's kahs-wan. The city would again be indirectly mentioned in ENT: "Fusion" in reference to the Shi'Kahr Academy, and would later serve as the namesake for the [[USS ShirKahr|USS ShirKahr]], seen but not mentioned in DS9: "Tears of the Prophets". ** An okudagram featured in TNG: "Eye of the Beholder" referenced the Sepek Academic Scholarship, which coincides with the name of a Vulcan child in this episode of the same name. ** Vulcan's Forge was later referenced in DS9: "Change of Heart" and was the focus of a three-episode ENT arc: "The Forge", "Awakening", and "Kir'shara". ** Both Lunaport and the kahs-wan were mentioned in ENT: "The Catwalk". ** The sehlat, which first appeared in animated form in this episode, was recreated in CGI in ENT: "The Forge". ** The nearby planet seen briefly behind Shi'Kahr made it into the original version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For the director's cut it was decided to remove the planet (named Charis or T'Khut in the novel "Spock's World"). * Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country confirmed Kirk's middle name as "Tiberius", a name first revealed in "Bem". * A chart of Federation space, seen in TNG: "Conspiracy", contained references to solar objects first mentioned in TAS, including the planets Canopus III, Lactra VII, Omega Cygni, Phylos and Kzin, and the stars Beta Lyrae and Pallas 14. * The episode DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach", Kor recalled his former vessel, the [[IKS Klothos|IKS Klothos]], which was the ship he commanded in the "The Time Trap". * The episode DS9: "Broken Link" referred to Edosian orchids, and, as well, the episode ENT: "These Are the Voyages..." mentioned Edosian suckerfish, as well as several other Enterprise references to the Edosian slug – all homages to the Edosian Lt. Arex. * Coincidental references which may or may not be attributed to terms first used in The Animated Series include: Klingon Imperial Fleet (from "The Time Trap") and Starbase 23 (from "The Terratin Incident"). See also *TAS performers *TAS recurring character appearances *TAS directors *Composers External Links * * [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ANI/index.html Star Trek: The Animated Series] at StarTrek.com * [http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/tas.htm Star Trek: The Animated Series] at Ex Astris Scientia * * [http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_main.html Star Trek: The Animated Series] (fan site) Star Trek: Animated Series de:Star Trek: The Animated Series eo:Star Trek: The Animated Series es:Star Trek: The Animated Serie fr:Star Trek: The Animated Series nl:Star Trek: The Animated Series sv:Star Trek: Den animerade serien